RAID Projects is pr
oud to present Hungry Me\, Tender You\, an exhibi
tion of figurative sculptures and drawings by Josh Atlas a
nd Michelle Carla Handel. Please join us for a sumptuous a
ffair of form\, texture\, and writhing candy-coated bodies.

The
works presented here are figures of desire. They are abstracted personal lu
sts driven by the need to touch\, coerce and manipulate materials into stra
nge bodies. Both artists approach their work with a sense of humor and play
\, creating forms that straddle the line between sensuous and revolting.

Atlas creates adorable “girlfriends” out of pool toys\, icing\, do
nuts and googly eyes in an attempt to satisfy his jumbled desires for love\
, sex\, and comfort eating. Rather than hide his personal lusts\, he uses h
umor to make work that is equally absurd and empathic.

Handel’s
forms are perversely intimate and alluring. She uses textiles to make her
sculptures appear soft or cuddly\, even as they bulge and contort around th
eir underlying tensions. Handel's work speaks to the constraints levied upo
n body or flesh\, that of time\, biology\, or gravity.

Underneat
h their playful and humorous sides\, both bodies of work show vulnerability
as they grapple with failure. Atlas’ dessert women are earnestly trying to
satisfy a range of bodily urges\, but ultimately\, they know they are unto
uchable. Handel’s sculptures seem to be burdened by their own mass\, with w
rinkled limbs that are coiling around themselves\, too tired to hold a pose
.

Josh Atlas received his BFA from Carnegie Me
llon University (2005)\, where hebecame interested in integrating comedy an
d art. He has participated in exhibitions at Allegra LaViola Gallery (New Y
ork)\, Daniel Cooney Fine Art (New York)\, MonkeyTown (Brooklyn)\, and NTBA
Gallery (Los Angeles) and participated in benefit auctions for Equality Ca
lifornia and the Red Cross. Josh Atlas lives and works in Los Angeles.

Michelle Carla Handel received her MFA from Claremo
nt Graduate University in 2011. Exhibitions have included a solo show\, ‘St
range Skin’\, at WEEKEND gallery\, and inclusion in 2011 GLAMFA and BOOM So
cal MFA shows. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles.